Downtown Jersey City activist Dan Levin, who called for Mayor Jerramiah Healy to resign three years ago, stunned some of his allies yesterday by announcing he will run for the Ward E City Council seat on Healy's ticket in next May's city election.

Levin, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2009 and then failed in a bid last year to become a councilman at large, is the first candidate to announce an alliance with Healy, who is seeking a third full term.

"I've put great thought into this decision," Levin said.

Levin, 50, has lived in Jersey City for 16 years. He is married with two small children, and for years ran a custom picture-frame shop in Hoboken. He is also the founder and past president of the good-government group Civic JC.

Rumors of Levin joining Healy's ticket have been circulating for weeks, with some of Levin's former supporters saying they wouldn't vote for him if he aligned himself with the mayor.

"People who have worked with me over the years are supportive," Levin said.

After dozens of pols were charged in the summer of 2009, including the city's deputy mayor and two council members aligned with Healy, Levin called for the "immediate removal" of Healy from office. Levin said yesterday that "when the smoke cleared" after the corruption arrests, Healy was "exonerated."

The current occupant of the Ward E council seat, Steve Fulop, blasted Levin's move to run on Healy's ticket. Fulop is Healy's chief rival in next year's mayoral race.

"How can (Levin) eviscerate Jersey City machine politicians one day, then jump in bed with them the next?" Fulop said in a statement. "What's changed is that a perennial candidate has traded in his values for the sake of political expediency."

Fulop tapped Downtown activist Candice Osborne to run on his ticket in Ward E.